Barrel assembly for use in fracturing oil wells



A vOct. 1l, 1960 J. M. sToGNl-:R r-rrAL 2,955,654

BARREL ASSEMBLY FOR USE IN FRACTURING OIL WELLS Filed Dec. 5, 1957 FIG.

FROM PUMP FIG. 2.

@tm n ....W/@Wm INVENTORS. JOEL M. STOGNER,

JACK C. McGUIRE, me MWL.

ATTORNEY f BARRELfAssEMBLY Fon USE 1N FRACrURING x v f OIL WELLS joel M. Stogner and Jack C. VMcGuire, vDuncan,`.0kla.,

assignors to Halliburton OiLWell` Cementingompany, Duncan, Okla. i v r This invention relates to apparatus for use in connection with oil wells and more particularly to an arrangement for injecting rubber balls or `the like into'a stream of fluid 'flowing into a Well. It has become common practice to temporarily plug perforatons in casing in a well with rubber balls or the like, particularly intconnection with the fracturing `of oil well formations. 'Methods for temporarily closing perforations in the'casing of a'fWell"Y are disclosed in the copending application of D onaldL H. Crall,-Serial 650,076, filed April 2, 195,7, and in 'thepate'nt to Derrick et al. 2,754,910, granted July 17, 1956.

As disclosed in the Crall application and in the Derrick patent mentioned above, the balls used for temporarily plugging perforations in casing may be made in various ways, but all have a certain amount of flexibility or elasticity. In somet cases, ordinary rubber balls are used.

'It is an object 0f the present invention to devise a barrel assembly for use in such apparatus by which a large number of balls or the like may be injected into a stream of lluid which is being pumped into a well without disconnecting the injecting apparatus from the flow line and at thet same time make it possible to pump slected number of balls into the fluid stream in successive stages or batches.

The manner in which these and other objects of the invention are accomplished will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a flow line from a pump (not shown) to a well (not shown) with apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention coupled thereto.

Figure 2 is a view mostly in vertical cross section of the barrel assembly shown in Figure .1, which barrel assembly constitutes the main feature of the present invention; and

Figure 3 is a view in transverse cross section of the barrel assembly of Figure 2, the View being taken along the lines 3-3 thereof. t

Referring to the drawings in detail and rst to the arrangement of Figure 1, .it will be seen that a flow line is there indicated at 10", this line being adapted to convey uid under pressure from a pump to a well. The ilow line 10 is provided with a valve 14 and with a T-coupling 11 and an angle coupling 16, so that a by-pass line may be connected in parallel with the line 10.

The barrel assembly of the present invention is connected into this by-pass arrangement. 'Ihe by-pass may include a line 15 which contains a Valve 24 and a union 23 which make connection with the Tcoupling 1l. On the discharge side of the barrel assembly, there is a line 21 which is provided with a valve 27 and a union 26 for coupling into the angle connection 16.

The barrel Iassembly of the present invention consists of a housing of two parts designated 35 and 36 which are connected together, when in use, by a threaded collar 37."` Ordinarily, the section 36 of this housing will remain connected to the ow line by the union 26. When the.. barrel Aassembly is to be loaded with the balls 34, the

.union 23 is disconnected and the section 35 unscrewed from the collar 37, so that the section 35 may be removed e ;v fronrtheassembly, together with all the apparatus whichl is connected to it.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, a plurality of cartridges 38 aremounted in the housing. In the arrangement illus# trated, there are four such cartridges, but of course the t number maybe varied as desired. These cartridges contain the balls 34. Each is rigidly mounted, as by weld-- of .the section36 of the housing. This bearing'is so arranged that the shaft may be readily removedV merely by pulling it out when the section 35 Vofv the housing ist'removed fromthe ilow line.

The left had'end of shaft 40as viewed'in liiglplre2Y l ist mounted for rotation in the end-piece 43, whichisintegralwith the section 35 of the housing, the shaft 40 extending or projected on out through this end-piece 43,

where it is-providedwith tl'iemanually operable crank 44.. ".To hold the 'shaft 40 `and hence the cartridges 38 in" any desired angular position, a suitable detent may be provided. As shown in Figure 2, this may consist of a ring 45 secured to the shaft 40. This ring having slots 46 on its rim, while a spring pressed plunger 47 is mounted on the section 3S of the housing. The arrangement is such that the crank 44 cannot rotate the shaft 40 unless the plunger 47 is raised manually.

As will be obvious to those skilled in the art, suitable packing is provided, as shown at 48, to prevent the barrel assembly from leaking when fluid under high pressure is caused to flow therethrough.- Also, means such as shown at 49, may be provided to take -care of thrust caused by fluid pressure in the barrel assembly. Y

The end-piece 42 of the section 36 of the housing con- -tans a passageway 50 which isslightly larger than the diameter of the cartridges 38. As will be seen in Figure 2, the discharge ends of the cartridges are open and unobstructed so that when one of the cartridges is in alignment with the passageway 50, all of the balls 34 in that cartridge may pass into the discharge line 21 while none of the balls in the other cartridges can then pass into the discharge line 21. The inlet ends of the cartridges 38 are somewhat restricted, as shown at 51, although fluid can ilow freely through the cartridges. The purpose of the restrictions 51 is to prevent the balls 34 from getting out of place when the cartridges are being loaded and lalso to prevent them from accidentally getting into the line 15.

The manner of operation of the equipment illustrated is as follows Assume first that iluid is llowing through the line 10, the valve 14 being open and the valves 24 and 27 closed. Under these conditions, the section 35 may be disconnected and removed by breaking the connections at 23 and 37, as mentioned above. The shaft 40 and the cartridges 38 remain a part of the section 35 at all times, although they are capable of rotation with respect to it. Hence when the section 35 is removed from the assembly, the cartridges l38 are also removed.

'I'he cartridges 38 may be said to be muzzle-loaded with the balls 34; that is, they are loaded from the disl'of the .cartridges in the desired position to discharge into -=the discharge line 21.

The valves 24 and 27 are then opened and the valve 14 wholly or partially closed, so as to cause uid to OW through the barrel assembly. -Since the discharge ends of the cartridges are not restricted in anyway, asrnany-of the balls 34 as are in the selected cartridge will bedischarged into the line 21. Only the balls in the selected cartridge will be discharged at this time however, inasmuch as the discharge ends of the other cartridges are obstructed or closed by the end plate 42 of the :section .36. 1 After discharging the balls from one selected cartridge, any other cartridge may then be rotated finto the ydis'- charge position by manipulation of the crank :44 .and

this process will be continued until all of the cartridges have been emptied.

. While only one embodimentof the invention has been shown and described herein, it will be obvious that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts Without departing from the spirit of fthe invention or the scope of the annexed claims.

We claim:

l. In equipment for use in injecting balls intoV an oil well or the like, the combination of a' flow line conveying fluid into the well and having a by-pass arrangement comprising suitable pipes and couplings Aconnected to said flow line for establishing a parallel path of ow to the well, two valves, one in the ow line and -the other inthe by-pass arrangement for -cutting off or regulating v:weiem:

the ow of fluid under pressure into the well through theby-pass arrangement, a barrel assembly connectedin the by-pass arrangement, a shaft extending longitudinally through said barrel and serving as means to support said barrel assembly for rotation thereon, whereby portions thereof may be successively brought into alignment with the pipes of said by-pass arrangement, said barrel assembly having a plurality of cartridges, each loaded with a pre-selected number of balls, and means utilizing the flow of uid under pressure through the by-pass arrangementfor causing the cartridges to discharge one' at a time vwhereby the balls may be injected into the ow A line in batches of selected numbers of balls.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 in which manually operable means is provided for rotating the shaft.

References Cited in the le of this patent `UNITED STATES PATENTS 

